Rotary filling machine



March 17, 1953 w GROSS I 2,631,77

' ROTARY FILLING MACHINE Filed April 21, 1949 10' 62 a] 6 0 :2 :E g

(9 i I 66. i 95 55 I 5 I 51 i z 44 4% H 44 50 50 55 42 2- -49 84 0' Q Patented Mar. 17, 195 3 oirso STATE-S P- TENT OFFICE "Ihe invention described herein may manw factored or used by or an the rn fit for governmental purposes warrant payment to are or any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to filling receptacles, more particularly to not-e1 apparatii's f matically filling gas mask "eanis'ters "of the axial flow type.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a machine that will automatically deliver "to a plurality of receptacles a charge of granular material, while maintaining uniform bulk-density of the charge delivered to "each receptacle.

-A supplementary object is to automatically. partially fill a receptacle to a predetermined depth below the top edge of the receptacle, and to com currently maintain a uniformly level top surface of the charge delivered to the receptacle.

Additional objects will more plainly appear from the detailedspecilicationand drawings herein presented in exemplification but not in limita tion of the present invention. Like reference characters represent like parts in the -accompanying drawings which erarammatically illustrate a preferred embodiiheh't of the'present invention Fig. 1 'r'ep i'sents a Trent elevation "of the "as- "serhbled machine. 7 v i Fig. 2 a plan View or the rotary drive "for the b Fig. 3 a front-elevation, partly'in"cross-section, of one ofth'e filling tubes. i

It is essential that an axial new canister for gas masks be filledin a manner that meets the following reqn-irern'e'nts "order that the charge will not become channeled and consequently irro'pera'tiveor hazardous whe'n used. Amon these requirements are: I v i The charge must be of uniform bulk dehsity.

AS "used herein bulk-density is determined as sec. 266) and "the *appficant. The preterit application is an improvementon the apparatus described therein, that provides a novel automatic fillin Machine, and, addition to other "improvements, provides novel means for maintaining "a uniform level-si'iiface of'th'echaif'ge. 7

As shown inthe'dfawings, particularly in Fig. 1, the machine It! includes vertical supports llyan'd horizontal support l2 l3. and [5. The in'otor drive assembly at 2!), the turntable 'ass'emlsly "at 2B, the "dippjtubes at 52, "and the hopper feed assembly at are arranged thereon 'in'coo'perating relationship a's's'hown in Fi'g.

Thel'notor drive assembly 20 includes a source of electric current, in'dicat'edatBZ, and a conduit 3! to motor '2! which drives through belt all a well known variable fpitch piill-eyunit at 25. The pivoted tilting arm 23 is aiijnsted by-h'andle 29 on a'djustalo-le nut unit at 2 4. Drive pulley '21 through belt 3B c'zlri-v'es driven 'p'iill'ey 28 on shaft it in reducing gear unit 33. Unit 33 drivestnrntable driving pinion "34 held-on shaft '1! by hub attachment 39. 'Pinion sfldr'iv'es turntable driven gear "35 which is i'i'xed'to the vertical main-shaft 3e b'y hub attaenment means at 3 s.

Turntable -as'sembly 49 includes housing 4!, lease plate at, cam rail its, chuck gear 49, and "collar -42 an heldi'n fixed relationship support 13. Shafttt passes through sonar 42 and ro- 'tates fin collar 32. Turntable 48 is attached 'to shaft/3E3 spy-means of hilbbollar fll.

chucks it include chuck pinion-s to held on table 38 in operating engagement with 'chuck'gear 19,1031 brackets 43 anizlbolt'si'l. Chuckpinions rlll are fixed to and rotate chu'ck shaft '83. Chuck rollers '65 freely rotate in chuck journal meni-bers '84, which are held-in vertically sliding engagement with chuck sleeves 85. Chuck shafts 83 rotate chucks i l in sleeves '85. "Chucks 4 3 carry andr-otate containersor-canisters'by any suitable engaging or :slidably interfitting means.

Tubes '52 preferably include, for accessibility, a telescoping top member 53 lockable by ine'ansof pin liii and 'slot 5'4. ThEy are-heldby bottom plate 56 and. to pl'a't'e 51 which rotate with shaft 36 and table '48.

Hopper assembly includes housingtl, which contains the annular compartment indicated in Fig. l by'thewallssh'ownin'cross sectionat Eli and. Si. Hoppers 3? aren lounted'on'plate 5?, between compartmental wallsQB "and GL'an'd'each held inalignmentwith'it's 'tube 52. Each hopper has a horizontal slide valve 6l 'having adisharge orifice 63 preferably somewhat greater in diameter than the discharge orifices 86 of hoppers 31. A supply tube6"2 is preferably positionedsothat it extends downwardly "below theu'pper edges "of annular walls 99 and 9 I. It is arranged to readily control a constant supply of granular material to hoppers 31.

Slide valve 61 is mounted for horizontal reciprocating radial movement and. is actuated by means of roller 58 held on slide 61 by axle shaft 59. The lower ends of tubes 52 are preferably provided with filling shields 68 which are positioned to extend downwardly through plate 56 and around the outside top edge portion of the container or canister when held in its upper filling position by chuck 44 on cam rail 43. The upper or filling position of chucks 44 is illustrated by the two outer chucks 44 in Fig. 1, and the lower or delivery position thereof by the chuck 44 indicated in its front central position in Fig. 1.

Horizontally fixed to support I l is circular hopper cam rail 14, and positioned in operating relationship with slide roller 58. Adjustably held on rail [4, as shown in Fig. l, is cam 95 which is positioned to move slide 5'! when cam 95 rides in contact with roller 58. Cam 95 is arranged to be selectively positioned on the periphery of rail 14 in the path of roll r 58 and acts to push slide 6'! into its closed position so that its orifice 63 is entirely out of register with'orifice 86 of hoppers 31.

Cam 69 is preferably fixed to circular rail 14 and positioned in the path of roller 58 so that it will act to push slide 67 into its open position, so that material will flow therethrough. Cam 66 is preferably provided with lever 85, which is arranged to pivot cam 55 out of the path of roller 53 when the machine is not in operation. Cam 95 is positioned at a sufficient distance on rail [4 from cam 66 so that slide 61 will remain in its open position for the length of time predetermined for filling a given container with the material selected. In Example 1 this time is 21 seconds.

The vertical central shaft 36 is preferably driven at approximately 2 R. P. M. This speed can be adjusted by variable pitch pulley unit at or by changing gear reduction box at 33.

Example 1.--When filling a gas mask canister of 10.5 cm. inside diameter to a depth of 2.88 cm. with 250 ml. of charcoal granules having a bulk density of .65 gram per milli-litre, in order to obtain the optimum in level-surface filling it is necessary to rotate the container so that at least one revolution is obtained during the filling cycle, which requires 21 seconds. The container can not be rotated faster than 40 R. P. M. or the charcoal bed becomes dished, or thicker at the outer edge of the container, due to the action of centrifugal force. In practice, the container is preferably rotated 2.52 times during the filling cycle.

Fig. 2 shows in detail the arrangement of orifices 63 and 8B, roller 58 and slide 51, and shield 58. It also shows the arrangement of screens 64, described in the patent previously referred to herein.

In order to determine the peripheral distance on rail 14 from cam 66 that cam 95 should be positioned, it is first desirable to determine a number of factors. Among these are:

. Size and characteristics of granules.

. Bulk density of charge.

. Diameter of container.

. Depth to which container is to be filled. Mesh of screens.

. Drop altitude of granules in tubes 52.

In general, the R. P. M. of chucks 44 should be low enough for even distribution of the granules without any centrifugal action thereon. The R. P. M. should be high enough to maintain uniform level surface of the charge in the container without any centrifugal action on the granules.

Operation In operation, the operator applies current at 32, and places the canisters or containers on chucks 44, as chucks 44 are lowered by cam 43 into the delivery and loading position. The rotation of shaft 35 moves rollers 58 into contact with opening cam 65, which opens slide 6'! and permits the granular material to flow through hoppers 37, orifices 53 and 86, screens 54, and tubes 52, into the containers held by chucks 44 in their filling positions within shields 68.

In the example given, cam is set to permit slide 5'! to remain open for 21 seconds. At the end of that time roller 55 has moved into contact with cam 95, which closes slide 67. As this 21 seconds is ending the first of the six chucks 44 carrying the six containers is riding into the low position on cam ring 43. This lowers chuck 44, which in turn lowers the container below shield t8 so that the filled container can be removed by the operator, and replaced by an empty container on chuck M. In this manner it will be seen that during approximately 21 seconds five of the six containers carried by the machine of the type illustrated in Fig. l are in the filling cycle at all times.

The foregoing drawings and specification illustrate one preferred embodiment of the present invention which is not intended to be limited thereto. It contemplates all embodiments and modifications within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus adapted to deliver leveled off uniform charges of granular materials into a plurality of individually rotating containers revolving in a common orbit, said apparatus including an upright frame having rigidly connected thereto in its upper portion a circular guide rail provided with spaced apart adjustably mounted cam members and having a vertical shaft centrally mounted in said frame and on a lower portion of said shaft a chuck ring gear and a circular cam rail provided with an upper cam surface and a lower cam surface, said shaft carrying in its upper portion and at a common distance from its vertical center line a plurality of equally spaced apart granular material hoppers provided with discharge outlets having slidable valve means adapted to successively open and close said outlets as the valve means moves against said guide rail, said shaft also carrying beneath said hoppers a plurality of elongated vertical granular material feed tubes in vertical registration with the discharge outlets of said hoppers and having beneath said tubes a circular turntable provided in its circumferential portion with a plurality of slidably and rotatably mounted chuck members in meshed engagement with said ring gear and in vertical alignment with said tubes, each of said chuck members being adapted to hold and slowly rotate one of said containers in vertical alignment with the longitudinal center line of the container and the axis of rotation of the chuck member and beneath one of said tubes, each of said chuck members being also in operative contact with said cam rail in a manner whereby said chuck members are 5 successively raised and lowered during each complete rotation of said shaft.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said hoppers are carried in an annular hopper assembly having concentric wall portions higher than said hoppers adapted to receive the lower end of a downwardly depending granular material discharge tube between said wall portions for the purpose of preventing the granular material discharged above said hoppers from falling between said feed tubes.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 in which said granular feed tubes are provided with telescopic extensions adapted to be detachably secured to the lower end portions of said hoppers.

WILLIAM E. GROSS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

